MIDI-compatible hearing device
AssigneePhonak AG
InventorRaoul Glatt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The hearing device is MIDI-compatible, wherein MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The hearing device can be adapted to communicating and/or loading and/or storing and/or interpreting and/or generating data compliant with the MIDI Protocol, also referred to as MIDI messages. Acknowledge sounds of the hearing device an be controlled by MIDI data, or music can be played to a user of the hearing device based on MIDI data. The hearing device can be a hearing aid, a headphone, an earphone, a hearing protection device, a communication device or the like.
Claims19
Hearing device comprising:
- a converter for converting MIDI data into an acknowledge sound indicating a change of a hearing device function to be perceived by a user of said hearing device to inform the user of the change of the hearing device function, wherein
- said acknowledge sound is generated by the hearing device while functioning as a hearing aid and conveys information about a state of the hearing device to the user.
Method of operating a hearing device, comprising the steps of:
- presenting ambient sounds to a user of the hearing device while operating as a hearing aid;
- changing a function of the hearing device while operating as the hearing aid;
- in said hearing device and responsive to said changing the function of the hearing aid, converting MIDI data into an acknowledge sound that indicates a state of the hearing device;
- and
- audibly presenting said acknowledge sound to be perceived by a user of the hearing device to thereby indicate the changing of the function of the hearing device to the user.
A hearing aid to be worn by a user with diminished hearing ability for presenting to the user audible sounds at a suitable volume level that enables the user to perceive the audible sounds, the hearing aid comprising:
- a microphone for converting incoming sound from an ambient environment of the hearing aid into an electrical signal;
- an amplifier that amplifies a volume level of the incoming sound represented by the electrical signal to the suitable volume level to be presented to the user and outputs an amplified signal;
- a controller for manipulating the hearing aid to bring about a change in a function of the hearing aid in response to at least one of an externally input command from the user and an internal condition of the hearing aid;
- a converter for interpreting MIDI data and converting the MIDI data into an acknowledge sound in response to the at least one of the externally input command and the internal condition that indicates the change in the function of the hearing aid when presented to the user;
- and
- an output transducer that converts the amplified signal and the acknowledge sound into audible output signals to be presented to the user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.